AQVox AQ-SWITCH-8

[GuillaumeB]

Ok so it's in!!

Just in case anyone was having evil thoughts about replacing the wall wart power supply:

   

So first impressions were like, great this is fine. Nothing really jumping at me. Possibly better, perhaps not. I should add that at this point I connected the switch to my Entreq box via an RJ45 ground cable (it was previously connected to my Paul Pang so apples and apples and all that!). 

I then tried different music including various albums that I've used in the past to evaluate changes in my system.

So I don't know if it's the Entreq kicking in but I start to become aware of something. Possibly this unit is just warming up and needs a few minutes to get going. Or perhaps it's just me becoming more aware.

So I'm specifically hearing something in the midrange, it seems a tad richer and more relaxed. It's almost like some hi-fi "fizz" has been removed from the system. So very specific examples? Passenger's opening track on the "Young as the Morning Old as the Sea" album. Previously there was a bit of brittleness in the sound, kinda like a digital hash thing. I heard this more in the more complex bits with lots going on, the percussion would get a bit fizzy and compressed. I always thought this was just a recording artefact thingy. Well... it's massively reduced now, almost gone. This was/is really surprising!

Overall I am left with this feeling that everything just feels calmer and more natural. Of course I've experienced this kind of effect a few times before when I've made other changes to the system. Each time it's surprising because you don't hear the noise until it's removed.

So I'm rather pleased about this and I would say it's definitely a keeper. 


Guillaume